In a joint venture, Barcode Architects, HUB Architects, engineering firm ABT and Karres en Brands will undertake the sustainable renewal of the Palace of Justice in The Hague. Client Rijksvastgoedbedrijf announced the preliminary award of contract yesterday.

The leading theme in the design is het Nieuwe Bouwen. Building with 'what is available', in order to minimize CO2 emissions and societal lifecycle costs as well as to maximize health, functionality and flexibility. The Rijksvastgoedbedrijf intends to make all their real estate management and tenders entirely circular by 2030 and the entire real estate stock by 2050. Within that ambition, the renewal of the Palace of Justice is the first complex and large-scale commission.

The building will become an icon for the position of the jurisdiction in democracy: a seamlessly functioning building that radiates what the Palace of Justice stands for, an enrichment for the city and its residents, and a new standard for healthy, circular and energy-positive construction works.

Caro van de Venne, on behalf of the team: ´We are honoured and proud to help realise a future-proof Palace of Justice together with the RVB and the users. Starting from the original design of the Palace with its cultural and material values, we bring in architectural and technical innovations, to create a 21st-century building complex: healthy, functional, ecological and socially inclusive.´

Photo: Dirk Verwoerd